Someone to Understand
by Melanie Miller
Summary: Amanda Coldrine's little sister comes to live with her in New York City and finds more than she bargained for.


Someone to Understand   
By Melanie Miller

The train chugged on at a steady pace. They had passed Albany hours ago, and within an hour should reach New York City. Amanda Coldrine, high society of Vermont, was grinning ear to ear. She was going home! Her parents might think that she belonged in Vermont, but rich Amanda Coldrine preferred the small apartment of her aunt Josephine in Brooklyn. The original transition had been difficult, but she was now more Brooklyn than anything else - minus the accent.   
Of course, one reason might be a certain 'poirson,' as he would say, in Brooklyn. Amanda let her thoughts drift to Spot Conlon, her boyfriend. She hadn't seen him in two months, not since she had gone to Vermont for summer vacation. Amanda attended the Academy of Good Grace for Young Ladies in Manhattan. She had quickly made good friends with the newsies in New York. Actually, maybe forced into friendships, thought Amanda, smiling. Her first few weeks in Brooklyn she had been a stuck-up snob. Spot had sure helped to change that! Amanda had had the most wonderful year of her life in New York the past year.   
"What're you thinking about, Amanda?" Amanda had almost forgoteen her younger sister, Margaret, accompanying her until she spoke up. Like Amanda, Maggie was attending school in Manhattan and living in Brooklyn this year with their aunt.   
"Home," Amanda sighed happily.   
"I know, I miss it already, too," Margaret said, worried that she would never fit in in the big city. She and Amanda were very close, since they were only 13 months apart.   
"No, Maggie, I miss Brooklyn. My home," Amanda said, her eyes shining. "I can't believe I'm finally going home again! I can't wait to introduce you to Katrin, Blink... Spot. Just everyone!"   
"What curious names they all have," Margaret smiled, adjusting one of her white gloves. "Do they go to school in Manhattan as well?"   
"Maggie, they don't go to school. I've told you about the newsies, haven't I?" Amanda asked, realizing something. Margaret was the same girl she had left a year ago, but Amanda had changed. A small rift had grown between the two sisters during the vacation. Amanda hoped that being in Brooklyn would repair it for Maggie.   
"Brooklyn, New York! All out for Brooklyn!" the conductor called down the aisle as the train began to slow down. Amanda gathered their things together. "Maggie, do you have everything?"   
"I think so," Maggie replied. Amanda was always looking out for her, she scowled. Just like a mother hen watching over her chick. "I suppose Aunt Josephine will have a carriage?"   
Amanda looked at Maggie strangely. "No, we'll walk." She turned up the aisle. Walk? Margaret thought to herself. She almost never walked anywhere back home in Vermont. The train jerked to a stop, and they went out the car door.   
Amanda was the first person out of their car as she cautiously stepped on the sidewalk.   
"Mandy!"   
"Aunt Jo!" Amanda waved to her aunt across the paltform. It was only then that she noticied the other person standing with her. "Spot!" she squealed, picking up her skirts with one hand and running towards him.   
Spot had missed Amanda... more than he'd admit it, as Manser would tell you. He grinned cockily as he saw the tall blonde running towards him, and he held out his arms. Amanda dropped her suitcase and bag on the ground and flew into him. "Oof!" Spot grunted. "Ya tryin' ta kill me aftah not seein' me all summah?"   
"Oh, how I missed you," Amanda whispered in his ear, her arms around his neck. She ooked up and he kissed her long and hard.   
Margaret stood in shock a ways down the platform. Her sister, the eldest daughter of the Coldrine family had rushed of the train into the arms of a common streetrat! Maggie sighed at the spectacle her sister was causing. She had known that Amanda had changed, that was obvious. She just hadn't expected it to be this obvious.   
"And you must be Maggie," an elderly woman with her gray hair pinned tightly into a bun stepped over to Maggie. Her eyes twinkled. "Can I help ya wit yer bags? I'se yer aunt Jo."   
Margaret looked at the woman who she had thought was her aunt's servant. "Of course," she replied.   
"Sorry Mandy abadoned you like dat. She ain't seen dat boy all summah, and jist between you and me, he's real happy ta see hoir too."   
Margaret wrinkled her nose. "That," she replied, "Is evident." Amanda and Spot walked over to where Maggie and Aunt Jo were standing.   
"Margaret, this is Spot Conlon," Amanda introduced, Spot's arm still around her waist. Margaret held out her hand. Spot shook it, shocking the prim girl. Amanda realized her sister was uncomfortable. "Aunt Jo, let's get home. I miss it so much!" Amanda smiled at her aunt. Aunt Jo reflected that only one year ago it was Amanda who was disgusted by the situation in Brooklyn. But Aunt Jo nodded and decided to continue on home.   
Spot kept his arm around Amanda as they walked, carrying one of Maggie's bag on his shoulder. Amanda carried her suitcase in one hand, with Aunt Jo lugging the two girls' trunk. It wasn't a long walk, just a lonely one for Margaret. Amanda barely even noticed, she was so happy to see spot again.   
"So what're ya doin' tanight?" Spot asked Amanda quietly.   
"Getting settled in, I suppose. Why?" Amanda asked.   
Spot grinned. "Welcome home aprty fer ya in Manhattan. I'm supposed ta take you - and yer sistah," he added. "She's a pretty little thing. Bet the boys won't keep their eyes off ah hoir." Margaret was indeed, pretty, though in a different way from Amanda's tall blonde beauty. Margaret was petite, with beautiful curly brown hair that formed ringlets around her face. She had large expressive green eyes and a massive smile - though Spot hadn't seen that yet.   
Amanda smiled. "Sounds fine with me. Anything important happen this summer that I should know?"   
Spot shook his head. "Nuttin' changes. Snoddy's still wit Sam, Katrin and Blink are da woirld's favorite couple..." Spot couldn't remember anything else. "How's Specs?"   
"Oh, he's good. He loves Vermont, loves law, loves working. It took all my might to get him out of the office this summer for picnics. I don't think my father will ever let him go," she said. "I really missed you," she whispered, and Spot squeezed her tightly.   
Aunt Jo smiled. "Dere it is, Maggie," she pointed out the building. "Me restaurant and our home." Margaret look at the six story brick building, rather shabbily built. "We live on da second and third floors," Aunt Jo continued.   
Amanda grabbed Margaret's hand. "Come on!" she opened the door of the restaurant, flipping the 'Closed' sign to 'Open.' Amanda was hurridly showing everything to Margaret. Maggie looked around with disdain. It's barely above poverty, she thought to herself.   
Aunt Jo noticied the frown. "Listen, Mandy, why don't ya take Margaret upstairs ta hoir room... da front one next ta yers."   
"I best be goin'," Spot said, putting the bag down. "Manders, I'll come ta git yous tanight. Bye, Miss Jo!" he walked out.   
Margaret trudged up the stairs behind her sister. "What did that boy call you?"   
"Manders, it's Spot's name for me. So, this is your room," Amanda smiled.   
Margaret surveyed the small room. It was tiny, but homey. The wood floor was covered with a plush blue rag rug. The brass bed had a matching blue coverlet, and was situated next to a small white desk. It certainly wasn't, however, her grand room at home. "Oh, Amanda, how do you do it?" she sat on the bed, removing her hat.   
"Do what?"   
"Live here! You told me it was wonderful, loving... Aunt Jo doesn't say a word, the house is barely livable and you-" Margaret's eyes started to tear. "You've changed. Who was that boy? He's street trash, and you know it!"   
"Margaret Coldrine!" Amanda turned her blue eyes on her sister. "First of all, you should be grateful to have a chance to live here. Aunt Jo is the most loving person I've ever met, certainly more tahn either of our parents! This is a highly respected restaurant... and as for Spot, I love him!" she finished. "I suggest you unpack," Amanda said cooly after a moment. "I'm going to help in the restaurant downstairs."   
Margaret looked out the dirty window. Oh why am I here? She asked herself. And tonight, you ahve to go to a street trash part. Oh Margaret, you're far from home... and everyone you love has changed. She put her head on her desk and let the tears flow.

Amanda was fuming. The nerve of her sister! She slammed the dirty dishes into the water, scrubbing like her life depended on it.   
"Have a row wit Maggie?"   
"Aunt Jo, how come you always know what's wrong with me?" Amanda smiled in spite of herself. "I missed you."   
"Missed you, too, honey. And you'se much too loud ta nevah know what you'se tawkin' 'bout," Aunt Jo laughed heartily. "Consider it dis way... you were werse dan dat yer first two weeks heah. And I remember you callin' a coirtain Brooklyn newsie a pimp!"   
Amanda laughed. "I guess I was too hard on her, wasn't I?" She sighed then. "She doesn't understand what you and I do... that living in Brooklyn is a treat!" Amanda grinned. "Guess I'd forgotten what it's like to miss home in Vermont. My home is here."   
Aunt Jo smiled. "Dat's alright, Mandy. You kin make it up ta hoir. Why don't ya bring her a sandwich?"   
"Aunt Jo's remedy for all things - a turkey sandwich, with plenty of lettuce," Amanda giggled. She smiled and took the plate upstairs.

Margaret wiped her eyes. She decided she wasn't going to cry anymore, since there was nothing she could do about the current situation.   
"Margaret?" There was a knock at her door. Margaret opened it, standing face to face with Amanda. "Maggie, I'm sorry... I do remember what it's like to be here and be lonely. Really, I do."   
Margaret sighed. "It's just a huge adjustment, Amanda. The house, the city,"   
"The accent," Amanda joked. "Listen, eat this sandwich. I was really unhappy here my first few weeks, too. You have to learn to open up to this world. It's far better than anything you could have imagined here at home. And school's wonderful."   
"That's good," Margaet said in a voice that implied it wasn't.   
Amanda smoothed down the bedspread. "Spot's picking us up around five o'clock. The party will be a lot of fun. You can meet all the boys."   
Margaret's eyes brightened at that. "Oh?" She asked. "I suppose you've already met yours," she teased.   
Amanda blushed. "Spot Conlon, da greatest newsie in al ah New Yawk. Da one half da city's is love wit," she said, imitating the accent perfectly. "That's my boy," she smiled shyly.   
Margaret returned the grin. "What should I wear?" Amanda and her sister quickly dissoled into a discussion about dresses, ribbons, and hair styles. Aunt Jo heard the two voice laughing upstairs and it sent a smile to her face. The goils, she thought, are home.

"Welcome back!" Katrin smothered Amanda with a hug. "I've missed ya so much!" Amanda kissed the girl's cheek in greeting. "Katrin noticied a shorter girl in a pretty navy dress behind Amanda. "Dis is Margaret?"   
Margaret blushed a bit. "You must be Katrin... I've heard a lot about you from Amanda," she said, trying not to notice the boyish pants and shirt Katrin was wearing.   
Katrin stared at the two sisters openly. "Ya look nothin' alike!" she said, astonished. It was true. Amanda was tall, with her straight blonde hair the color of honey. Margaret barely stood as tall as Katrin, with curly brown hair. She was small and wiry, but her smile made her beautiful.   
"Where's Spot?" Katrin asked Amanda.   
Amanda gestured behind her, "Spot's talking with Jack out front."   
"Mandy! You'se back!" Mush, Racetrack and Blink were all rushing down the stairs. "We missed ya so much," Mush told her, giving her a hug.   
"Yeah, dere was no one ta buy us lunch," Racetrack joked.   
Kid Blink put his arms around Katrin's waist. "Ya gonna stand here all night or are ya gonna join us upstairs?" he asked the two girls.   
Amanda suddenly realized that Margaret hadn't been introduced. "Boys, this is my sister, Margaret. Margaret, meet Mush, Racetrack, and Kid Blink." Margaret smiled at them, a little shy at first.   
"We'se playin' pokah, or what?" Spot Conlon and Jack walked into the lodging house.   
"Wait a minute!" Amanda put her hands on her hips. "Are you actually going to play poker on my first night home?"   
"Yeah," Spot replied. Then he winked at Amanda, and pulled her close. He whispered, "But I'll be on da roof in twenty minutes."   
Amanda giggled. "Is Sam here?" she asked Katrin as they tramped upstairs. Sam didn't live at the Lodging House, but she spent all her selling time and free time with the newsies.   
Katrin nodded. "Yeah, she's heah wit Snoddy upstairs. Davey's heah, too." Amanda giggled as they barged into the bunkroom, interrupting the poker and Snoddy and Sam.   
"Amanda!"   
"Welcome back!"   
"Pretty little sistah ya got dere, Mandy."   
"This is my sister, Margaret," Amanda introduced the pretty brunette. Margaret blushed as the boys produced whistles and cat calls. She took a seat in a corner by herself, watching evrything around her.   
The party wanned on. Amanda and Spot, Margaret noted, had disapeered long ago. Margaret sighed, sitting primly on a chair. She hadn't spoken to anyone in the past hour.   
Mush couldn't play poker. He couldn't concentrate... not with that girl in the room. She's all by herself, he thought. His face showed true concern. It took him almost twenty full minutes to work up the nerve to go pull a chair next to hers.   
"So yer Margaret?"   
Maragret looked at the boy who had sat next to her. He was tall, and solidly built. She wrinkled her nose even thinking about it. The boy was, after all, still trash. "I am. And you are..."   
"I'se Mush," he introduced himself, forgetting he had already been introduced to her twice that night. "You look confused. Don't worry, Mandy was da same. Look at hoir now, she likes us good enough."   
"Indeed." Margaret's frown deepened.   
Mush wondered what he had said wrong. "Uh... so why'd ya come ta New Yawk?"   
Margaret replied snipply, "To educate myself at school. Why do you care?" she asked, emphasizing the you.   
Mush's face dropped. "Uh... jist wonderin'. Sorry." He went quiet, wondering why such a pretty girl had such a horrible attitude.   
Margaret sighed. This was horrid! She thought, getting up. She refused to stay anothe rminute. She found Katrin. "Tell my sister that I went home," she told her.   
Katrin looked concered. "It's late, Margaret. We beddah send someone wit you."   
Mush suddenly appeared. "Uh, I'll take hoir. I don't mind," he said, hoping for another chance to win the girl's friendship. Margaret sighed, but agreed, knowing that she didn't know her way back to Brooklyn anyway.   
Once outside, Mush tried talking again. "We'll take da trolley, dat way ya won't have ta walk," he said. He started telling her all about being a newsie. Whenever he glanced at her, he thought, I'm in heaven! Dis is da prettiest goil in New Yawk.   
Margaret didn't notice him staring, and she tuned out his voice. Finally, Mush asked, "So, is you from da high society of Vermont, too?"   
Margaret thought of home with a pang in her heart. "I am... like my sister, though she's forgotten it." Margaret sighed. "It's Amanda and I at home. You know," she said, quietly, "We had the lovliest times. Then she came here... and changed."   
"But fer da beddah, don't ya t'ink? She was real stuck-up, Spot said, before she came heah," Mush replied.   
"Oh!" was all Maggie could say. "Oh!" They got off the trolley and started walking towards Aunt Jo's home.   
"Mandy's always hangin' wit Spot and us. We meet hoir aftah school most days," he grinned, thinking of meeting Margaret every day after school.   
"I don't think you understand... I'm not like Amanda. I won't change," she said coldly. "I don't enjoy parties in shanty poker halls."   
"It's not shanty!" Mush protested. His eyes filled with hurt. "Its our home. It's good enough for Mandy... you'se jist bein' unfair!"   
"Amanda seems to have forgotten her place," Margaret retorted coldly. She ealized she was yelling. "Forgive me, I did not mean to embarress myself so. Excuse me. I can walk home from here myself."   
Mush stared after her. "I said I'd take ya home. And I will," he caught up to her with his long strides. Margaret didn't protest. They walked home in silence.   
"Goodnight. Thank you for escorting me," Margaret said. She stepped inside and closed the door in his face.   
"Well, what does she t'ink she's doin', huh?" Mush muttered. He wasn't angry... Mush didn't really get angry. He just didn't understand why Margaret acted the way she did. Mush decided that was something to think about the nex rainy day.

Amanda woke up a week later, on Saturday, to see grey New York skies pouring down rain. School had been going well since she returned, and Margaret... well. Margaret was adjusting.   
In fact, Margaret was already downstairs baking bread. "Lazy head!" she giggled at Amanda as the elder sister came down the stairs. Mararet didn't mind the Saturdays, she felt that by baking, she was practicing her domestic skills. "Amanda, what will we be up to today?"   
"It's raining," Amanda said, grinning. "I'm guessing it'll take another hour for Spot to decide that he can't sell his papers and come over. And then tonight," Amanda said, pausing dramatically, "There's a party in Brooklyn on the docks."   
"A party?" Margaret asked. "For whom?"   
"Oh, it's just Spot and the other newsies," Amanda smiled, noting the dismay on Margaret's face. "Aww, Maggie, they aren't that bad. Can't you forget where you came from? It's wrong to look down on people."   
"And then what?" Margaret challenged. "You are the eldest daughter of the Coldrines! Who will you marry?"   
"Whomever I want!" Amanda fumed. "Maybe you, God forbid, need an experience like mine. Where someone attacks you from our old live and your new friends here save your neck!"   
Margaret opened her mouth, then closed it. She knew her sister was right, she had told her about what Cody Dourline had done to her and how Spot had saved her. Margaret sniffed the air, and realized the bread was burning. Aunt Jo bustled in from the restaurant, grabbing the loaves that were cooling.   
"Have ta admit, you'se a beddah cooker dan Mandy," Aunt Jo teased.   
"I heard that," Amanda said from the stairs, where she was lacing her boots. She had gotten dressed, but left her thick blonde hair down, simply pulled back with combs. "Aunt Jo, is..."   
"He's waitin' at da foirst table, he is. Take Spot his coffee," she pushed a mug at Amanda, who smiled and walked out.   
Margaret sighed over the eggs she was cooking. "Aunt Jo, can you finish these? I'm going upstairs."   
"Alright," Aunt Jo agreed. Margaret went upstairs and looked at herself long and hard in the mirror. Amanda was right, she thought. I'm not any better than the newsies just because I have money and property. They're people, just like me. I bet they're nice people, too. Of course I've probably blown it. But then again, if there's one thing I can do, it's sweet talk my way into people's hearts, she decided, before she let the tears fall and she cried on her desk for a long time.   
  
But by five o'clock, Margaret was having her doubts. "Amanda, I don't want to go... I was really unbearable last time," she complained.   
Amanda sighed. "You'll enjoy it. We're lucky the rain's stopped," she said, putting up her hair. "And I know for a fact they'll be some newsies who'd love to dance with you." Margaret's face brightened, but then reddened when she thought about how rude she had been.   
In a strange way, Margaret desparately wanted to start over and have the newsies like her. She had been thinking about it all day. She realized that she enjoyed New York City as its bustle. The dance, she knew, was sure to be fun if she would let herself have fun. She agreed to go, and the two sisters walked across Brooklyn.   
Mush greeted Amanda, as Maggie had fallen a bit behind. "Did ya bring yer sistah? I was thinkin' 'bout hoir today..." Mush had been wondering about Margaret all that day. He had pestered Racetrack with 'what if' questions, and the other newsie had finally ended up taking a walk in the rain to escape Mush.   
"She's back there," Amanda pointed behind her. "She's a little embarressed... she feels she acted out of sorts last time."   
"Gee, dat's an undahstatement," Racetrack growled. Mush had told him all about their little trip home to Brooklyn. Mush elbowed him in the stomach to be quiet.   
Amanda looked down the dock at various newsies there. She saw that all the Brooklyn and Manhattan newsies were there, and there were some girls from Yonkers, some newsies from Harlem and the Bronx, and a couple she didn't know at all. "Dutchy already drunk?" she teased Racetrack as she noticied the blonde walking unsteadily down the dock.   
Mush laughed. "Nah, too bad Specs ain't heah ta keep 'im in line." The newsies all missed Specs... but he wasn't coming home anytime soon. "Next time ya write 'im tell 'im I said heya, will ya, Mandy?"   
"Sure thing, Mush," she agreed. She nudged Mush. "Why don't you go get Margaret and bring her to the party?"   
Mush sighed. "I'se dat obvious?"   
Amanda grinned. "Just do it, alright?" She turned and went to go find Spot.   
Margaret watched Mush's exchange with her sister, and then her heartbeat quickened as he walked over to her. "Heya, Mags," he greeted her. "I was... uh... wonderin' if ya want ta dance?" Margaret shook her head. She wasn't ready to join the party yet... it was still too intimidating. "Well, how 'bout a walk?" Mush persisted.   
"A walk?" Margaret squeaked. "Yes," she said, "A walk would be wonderful." She couldn't help notice how beautiful his eyes were in the latern lights of the docks.   
"So, ya loike New Yawk?" Mush asked as they walked farther down the docks, the wooden boards creaking under their feet.   
Margaret sighed. "I honestly don't know... I think so."   
"It ain't all dat bad. I mean, I know how ya must feel, being away from home. But we'se like a family, if ya give us a chance," Mush explained.   
"So I've noticed."   
"And it's not really--" Mush's breath caught in his throat. They were walking on the old docks area of the pier. The boards beneath their feet cracked and feel through, roted with age. Margaret was able to fall backwards and avoid the Brooklyn River.   
Mush wasn't as lucky. He fell into the gaping hole, and into the water. He didn't emerge.   
Margaret shrieked. They had walked aways down the pier, it would be too late if she ran for help.   
Mush's head emerged for a moment. "I can't swim!" he shouted before he was cut off as the inky blackness engulfed him. Margaret didn't hestitate. She dove into the water, fully clothed, and started feeling around underneath the surface.   
She grabbed one of Mush's arms and pulled him to the surface. Swimming along the dock, she made sure his face was out of the water. She grabbed a rope that was dangling and pulled herself up, then hauled Mush out of the water as well. She realized as she lay there panting that Mush wasn't breathing. Praying that the aging dock would support them here, she laid Mush out in front of her, face up.   
"Breathe, Mush," she whispered. "Please..." Margaret didn't want him to die... he was the only one who had been kind to her. Even though she had never said a kind word back. She wanted to make it up to him in every way. She wanted to know him.   
Margaret opened his mouth and palced hers on his. She breathed into his mouth. No response. She tried again. Still nothing. She pushed on his chest and tried a third time.   
Mush coughed. Maggie sighed in relief as he began to spit up water. She helped him sit up so he wouldn't choke.   
"I really should loirn ta swim," he said weakley, coughing hard.   
"Mush... I'm... I'm sorry," Maggie said, tears of relief rolling down her face.   
Mush looked at her. "Am I dreamin'?"   
The blush on Maggie's cheek deepended. "Please don't make this hard... I'm sorry for everything. I treated you horribly, when all I really wanted was for you to care about me." She was shocked the words came out of her mouth... but she realized they were true. Ever since the moment she had met Mush, she had wanted the kind, good newsie to like her in that special way.   
Mush shook his head. "You got nuttin' ta be sorry for. But I owe ya me life," his eyes looked at her teary ones. Margaret raised her face to his and kissed him hard. Mush was shocked, but he didn't pull away. He kissed her back, wondering why this was happening.   
They pulled apart and stared into each other's eyes. Mush smiled. "I'm in heaven," he said, grinning.   
Margaret smiled, running a hand through his wet, curly hair. "No... you're not. You're right here with me." She kissed him again.

Amanda stood in shock at the scene she was witnessing. "Spot... can you believe this?"   
Spot Conlon shook his head. "I t'ought yer sistah was a brat who didn't like us newsies."   
Amanda smirked. "Guess she found one person she likes. Mush is certainly keeping her busy."   
"Ahem. Don'tcha t'ink we should be busy like dat, goil?" Spot's blue eyes twinkled as he put his arm around her waist.   
"I don't know..." Amanda teased. "I t'ink dat Racetrack was wanting a dance. I do really enjoy short men."   
"Liah!" Spot said, and he kissed her. He and Amanda left her younger sibling alone to enjoy herself.

Margaret smiled. Mush asked her, "Whatcha thinkin' 'bout?"   
"You."   
Mush smiled. "Good, cause I'se thinkin' 'bout you."   
"What's your real name?" Margaret asked, taking one of his hands in hers.   
Mush looked around. "I'll tell you, but don't tell nobody else. It's Ryan. But dey call me Mush on account ah me skin color... and da fact dat I'se all mushy inside."   
Margaret laughed. She liked him so much. Anything to keep him talking! "Why did you become a newsie?" she asked him.   
He put his arms around her waist, and she rested her head against his firm chest. "Jist like everyboyd else. I was a runaway. Left home, and Jack found me. Been one evah since. 'Course, Cowboy wasn't da leadah den, but he is now," Mush said, thining of the strike.   
"I wish I could run away. Actually, that's what coming here was," Margaret admitted.   
"Why do ya say dat?"   
Margaret's voice lowered. "Amanda didn't tell you about our parents?" Mush shook his head. Margaret decided to continue. She didn't mind telling him the truth. "They're divorced all but in name. Divorce is really a scandal, so they would never do that. But they live in their separate wings of the house. Daddy's at work, Mother's always at society functions, and I'm alone... Well, I was." She sighed, thinking of the place she had once longed for. She really had no desire to return there. "I must sound like a horrid brat."   
Mush shook his head. "Nevah! You ain't!" he insisted. "Ya gots ta have people 'round ya who care 'bout you."   
"Do I?"   
Mush tightened his arms around her. He kissed her forehead and said, "Ya do now. I cared fer ya da moment ya stepped into our lodging house in Manhattan. Couldn't stop thinkin' 'bout ya," the words rolled off Mush's tongue.   
"Mush, I've been unbearable to you! I don't deserve-" Maggie started to protest, but Mush put a finger to her lips.   
"Not a woird. We'se jist gonna start off fresh den. Mags, I care 'bout you," he said.   
"Mags? I like that," Maggie said, smiling.   
"Suits ya. So whaddya say, shall we go join da party?" Mush asked her.   
Maggie scrambled to her feet. "Let's go!" And off they went, to dance in their still wet clothes. As they danced the night away, Margaret realized shehad finally found herself... and found someone who understood her.   


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